My Favorite Pumpkin Pie

If you have been searching for the best pumpkin pie recipe, then search no more! This is it. I promise. You'll love it. :o)

• 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup milk
• 9" pre-made pie crust

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Add the pumpkin, eggs, cream and milk and whisk to combine. Pour the filling into pie crust and bake until the center is set. About 65-70 minutes. Cover the edges with foil if crust begins to brown too quickly. Let cool about 2 hours before cutting and serving.

Freezer directions:  let baked pie cool completely. Then freeze up to 6 months. Thaw and bake for about 30 minutes or until heated through.

You can also just freeze the pie filling by pouring into a freezable container and freezing. Then just thaw an pour and bake as usual.

Caramel Apple Cupcakes with Apple Cider Buttercream

These are one of my favorite cupcakes and they're perfect for any fall dessert table.

• 3 ¾ cups flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups brown sugar
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• ¾ cup chunky applesauce: (I've also just bought chunky applesauce and that works too)
• 3 apples, peeled, cored and choped
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• ½ cup water
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¾ caramel sauce (store bought or make your own, recipe here)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 1 ½ cups buttermilk
• Apple Cider Frosting:
• 2lb bag of powdered sugar
• ¾ cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ to ½ cup apple cider

Place applesauce ingredients in small saucepan over low heat and cook until apples are tender. Drain remaining water. Put aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line or grease 2 dozen muffin tins. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside. In a separate bowl beat the sugar and oil together until well combined. Add applesauce, caramel sauce, and vanilla. Beat for 30 seconds. Then add eggs one at a time. Add flour mixture in slowly, alternating with buttermilk. Pour 2/3 full into muffin cups. Bake for 18 -20 minutes.

Make frosting: Beat butter, cinnamon and powdered sugar on low until incorporated. Add apple cider slowly using only as much as needed to get desired consistency. Adding more powdered sugar if the buttercream gets to runny.

Let cupcakes cool before icing. Once cool top with frosting and drizzle with extra caramel.

Everything But the Kitchen Sink Cookies

My little family and I recently relocated to Colorado.

Moving is the worst. Seriously. I never need to do it again. But the biggest thing that made it worth it? The kitchen.

Oh and the views. The views are amazing.

(That's 2 apples and a cherry tree in the backyard AND to the right we have some amazing views of Mesa Verde!)

And the little fox that comes to visit our backyard at the same time every night. Or the deer that make their way through our backyard. Or the fact that the cool crisp mountains are just a 10 minute drive away. I could go on and on.

The first thing I did (with the help of my MIL) when we moved in was put together the kitchen. Today I was itching to make (and eat!) some cookies. I'm calling these the "Everything But the Kitchen Sink" cookies since I just threw in a bunch of bags of leftovers I had in the pantry. You could easily sub or leave out whatever add-ins you like. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• ½ cup old fashioned oats
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• ½ teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 ½ cups flour (¼ cup added for higher altitude)
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups sweet add-ins (I used a mixture of dark chocolate, semi-sweet and butterscotch chips. Others you could try: milk chocolate chips, raisins, dried fruit, toffee bits, caramel bits, M&M's, etc...)
• 1 cup nuts (I used toasted pecans, again, you could use whatever nuts you prefer, or leave them out)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In your food processor, pulse the oats until semi-fine. Set aside. In your stand up mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together until well blended. Add the cinnamon, vanilla, eggs and lemon juice. Mix well. Slowly add the oats, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Fold in the nuts and sweet add-ins. Scoop out onto cookie sheets and bake 10-12 minutes or until golden.

Yields: 50 cookies (using a medium cookie scoop).

Maple Bacon Cinnamon Rolls

It may sound gross, but trust me, it's not. I like the little sweet and salty along with the crunch the bacon brings to these delicious cinnamon rolls. And if you're just not that into bacon, then just leave it out, or sub out pecans. They'll still taste amazing. I baked these beauties in muffin cups to sell them at the farmer's market during the summer, more portable and easier to package. However, I do prefer to bake them all together in a dish when I bake them just for my family, I like them to be gooey and soft and when you bake them in cupcake liners, they aren't quite as chewy or soft. But still delicious! Enjoy! :o)

Ingredients:

• For the cinnamon rolls:
• 1 cup milk
• ¼ cup butter, melted
• 3 to 3 ½ cups flour
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 ¼ teaspoon yeast (I usually use active dry)
• 1 egg
• Bacon filling:
• ½ pound of bacon cooked and crumbled
• 4 Tablespoons (½ stick) butter, softened
• ½ cup granulated sugar 
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• Maple Icing:
• 2 lb bag of powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons maple extract
• ½ cup milk
• ¼ cup (½ stick) butter
• ¼ cup brewed coffee
• pinch of salt

To make the cinnamon rolls: add the 1 cup of milk to the melted butter and heat in a microwave safe container for 1 to 1 ½ minutes in the microwave. Stir and check temp. If it's lukewarm then add your yeast. If it's still piping hot then let cool until it feels lukewarm. After you stir in the yeast let the mixture sit for 10 minutes. In your stand up mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix 3 cups of flour, sugar and the salt, whisk with a fork and then slowly add your milk/butter/yeast mixture. Add the egg and beat with dough hook on medium speed, adding more flour as needed (¼ cup at a time). When the dough begins to pull away from the bowl and form a ball, turn the speed up and beat a little longer, about 5 more minutes. Remove from bowl to a greased bowl, turning dough once to get it greased on both sides. Cover with a damp towel and let it sit in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

To make the filling: while the dough is rising, cut up your maple bacon and fry it until crisp. Remove to paper towel to drain off grease. Soften or melt your butter, set aside. Mix your ½ cup sugar and 1 Tablespoon (more or less to taste) together and set aside.

To make your icing: mix ALL of the icing ingredients together and blend well. If icing seems too runny, add more powdered sugar. If icing seems too thick, add more milk and/or coffee. It should be pourable and spreadable, but hold up to spreading on hot cinnamon rolls. This icing recipe makes a lot of icing, I usually freeze the extra icing for the next time I make these delicious rolls!

Assembling the rolls: once the cinnamon roll dough has doubled in size, punch down and lay out on a floured surface. Roll it out into a large rectangle (about 14x9). Spread out your butter evenly over the entire surface, then sprinkle your cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over the butter, then the cooked and cooled maple bacon. Starting with the longer side begin tightly rolling up the dough, pinching in the ends to seal it up. Cut the rolls into about ¾ inch to 1 inch thick slices and place in a greased pan or cupcake liners. This recipe will make about 24 cinnamon rolls so you might need several pans. Cover with a dishtowel and let sit for about 20-25 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and back for 12-16 minutes, or until cinnamon rolls start to turn golden around the edges. Pour icing on hot cinnamon rolls and eat while warm.

Freezer Directions: After you have cut up the cinnamon rolls into slices, place them into a freezer container (I usually put them in a 9" round aluminum throw-away pan and then put the pan into a gallon size freezer bag and label the bag with instructions). Freeze for up to 6 months. When ready to eat, remove pan from freezer, let come to room temperature, and have grown a little in size, about 1-2 hours, depending on how warm your kitchen is. Then bake as mentioned above.

Yields: 20-24 cinnamon rolls.